The Cloud of Dust by Charlie Boxer

This short novella is the story of a love affair. A young man goes up to Edinburgh University. Lonely, he writes letters to his mother and to his best friend Paul. He tells them about the city, about the people he has met, the books he has read. Then one day he meets a girl, Kate. Almost from that moment he is lost. Intoxicated, agonized, his love for Kate becomes all consuming, obsessive. He believes she loves him too, but she is already committed to another, and his focus changes to an intense exploration of what love really means.Astonishing in its intensity and the beauty of its language, The Cloud of Dust has all the makings of a cult bestseller

Unrated Critic Reviews for The Cloud of Dust

Kirkus Reviews

Originally published in Boxer’s native Britain, this pretentious little debut novel—literally small, as if meant for a place near the cash register—recounts through letters a young Edinburgh University student’s unconsummated love affair with a young woman who may or may not love him back.

Publishers Weekly

Kate, though, is a popular, flirtatious girl, who seems to have an endless series of male admirers, and the narrator must bide his time, winning her over through a series of meetings and conversations that reveal a deep and abiding attraction.